Cap to contract the flame for night-lamps



I/zvferzior HE ECKEFT LITHGRAFHING COA. WASHINGTO Nifrn rares nrn'r tren l A JAMES CHRlSTISON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR T() ALFRED Vi". CRA

WIEN, TRUSTEE FOR THE METROPOLTAN FAIR AND FOl-t THE UNITED .STATES SANITARY COMMISSION.

CAP TO CONTRACT THFLME FCR. NIGHT-LAMPS.

Specilicnton forming part of Letters Patent No. 42,32, dated April l2, lbilli.

To all whom it may concern,.-

Bc it known that l, JAMns Cnnisrison, of New York, in the county and State ot 'New York, have invented a certain new and Inipi'oved Gap for ihe VVicltT1.1bes of Lamps; and l do hereby declare that the foilowing is "a full and exact description thereof'.

The accompanying drawings form a part of this specification.

Figure l represents the shape in which the material is out and the lines aiong which it is bent to forni my cap. Fig. 2 represents a'to'p view of my cap. Fig. 3 represents a side view of m'y cap. Fig. 4c represents an end view of my cap. Fig. 5 represents a bottom view of mycap. Fig. l6 is a side yiew plied to a wiclntuhe. Fig. 7 is a View at right angles to the last., Fig. 8 is a vertical section through the cap and through the wicktubel and wick. Fig. 9 is a section on the line S S .in Fig. 8.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts in all the iignres.

The object of my invention is to adapt ordinary lamps to burn with a very small iiame when. required. in sick rooms and in attending very young children it is frequently desirable to de this, butvnnti-l my invention it was dioult to'eliect it. rdinary lamps for barning kerosene are adapted to allow the tia-t `wick to loeraised and lowered; but if' it is lowered beyond a certain limit an oi'ensive smell is observed, so that it is impracticable to accomplish the end secured by my invention, which is to expose but a very small areaiot' wick, and yet canse the dame to endure with a steadiness and certainty and with a Vperfec- -tion ofthecornbustion which is nearly equal to that which obtains on a larger scale when the lamp is burning with its full power.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use 'my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation by the aid of the drawings and of the letters of reference marked thereon. i

I cnt a sheet of tinned iron in the form represented by the black outlines in Fig. l. -I then fold it along the lines indicated in red and produce a cap, B, having a hole, C, in the center of the top, and adapted to it snugly ot 'the cap ap- 4without .tirst extinguishing the llame.

smallness of the darneV which burns when the over the top of a common flat WickII-tnbe,

`A, in the manner indicated in the figures.

When this cap is thus slipped on over A, it excludes the nir from all-parts of the wick o, except that immediately adjacent tothe hole G, so thaton fire being applied to ignite the wick in this condition only that part of the.

wick which is thus exposed will. 'be allowed to burn, and this may be sufficiently high to burn clearly and freely, and consequently without appreciable smell, and yet, by reason of the limited area .of the hole G, the ila-nie will he small, and the consumption ot' material will he very insigniiicant. 0n removing the cap at any moment the light at once increases tothe i'ull usual power oi the lamp.

i' can provide my cap with a handle orwith various complex means of operating it, but l do not generally deem it necessary to do so. My nsnal'mode otapplying it is to extinguish the light, after removing the chimney or other obstruction, it' there besuch, `and slip on the cap B, with the fingers applied directly, and then relight the dame. In removing it I can reverse the operation, or remore 'thev cap at once Vhy a direct application ot* the fingers The cap is 'on/prevents the cap from becoming much heated. On removing the cap while the small iiaine is on the necessity for relighting the name will frequently he obviated by the retention of the iiame on the wick during the .entire proceeding. tinned iron. i This is the material which l have used with success and prefer on account of its low cost and vother qualities; but any other suitable material may be employed at pleasure.

T. propose to attach the cap B to the wielttube A, or to sor-ne other portion of the lamp, (not represented,) by a chain, or lily asystem of levers or the like, to prevent its getting lost, and to facilitate its application and removal.

I have observed, so far as my experiments have-extended, that the lamp with-the cap on succeeds best with the free access or without a chimney.

I propose to use my cap B, as described, on

all kinds of lamps, with all kinds oiburners and withA all kinds of chimneys, or without ,a

I have mentioned v of the air,

chimney, at pleasure; but-I prefer to leave oft' the chimney, if there be one, While the cap B is m use. v f

It will be observed that my cap is adapted to ytit upon the form ot' tube which is'iu coinmon use-to wit, the flat wick-tube, and that difterent sizes may be made to adapt the invention to different sizes of Wick-tubes.

I propose to makethe caps-either at the same time with the lamp, so as to v.be sold withit, or at a diii'terent time and in different Work, to be sold separately as a distinct'artiele oi' manufacture, as maybe most convenient.

I attach particular importance -to the fact that my cap is adapted to tit very closely, qui te around the entire top of thewiek-tube, as otherwise much Vapor might escape. "I also attach importance -te the fact -that it isso formed by the euttingand"bending ot' the 4metal, as described, that. it will possess a considerable elasticity, so as to yield and slip 'over and cling` tighttvupon tubes, having eonsiderable difterence in size, each from the other. My construction,admits this, andalso by the overlapping;` of the parts at the' joints keeps the joints so nearl v ight that little vapor will escape, even when the capis considerably (listen-ded by being forcedv on a large tube. y

Having` n'ow fully described my invention, what I claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows: As a new article of manufaeture,the.within described perfo rated cap B C, for the -wicktubes of lamps, the same being adapted to fit snugly around and upon the ordinary ila-t wick-tubes and to cling thereon, substantially in the manner and for the purposes herein set forth. i

JAMES cnnlisrison.

Witnesses: l

.1). W. STE'rsoN,

lHoMAs l). S'rErsoN. 

